He added: "The goals were scored because of mistakes in our defence. But the [team] showed their heart during the second half. Italy were 2-0 in front [at half-time] so it is hard to turn the match around."

Low also explained his decision to hand Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos his first start of the tournament and bring Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez back into the team.

"With Toni, I wanted to be stronger in the centre, and limit the midfield axis of [Andrea] Pirlo and [Riccardo] Montolivo," he continued.

"Gomez had scored three times [in the tournament so far] and was good in training. Lukas was also good in training. We won in the first few games with Podolski and Gomez."